Newborn

 

Challenges of Diapering a Newborn

Cloth diapering a newborn presents a few challenges.  First they are so tiny, so the diapers are huge.  And it makes no sense to get a whole lot of diapers that are newborn size, because they grow so fast.  So your baby will be a cute, round little spud for the first while.  The nice thing is, the diaper bulk gives you something to hold onto, your baby feels more solid.  Other things to consider are the frequent, unformed poops and the baby's skinny legs.  So, at the very least you want a good snug fit around the legs and waist. 

 

My Choice of Diapers

Here's what I did when Ander was newborn.  I did wait until his cord fell off to start, because I wanted to keep it dry, and the cloth diapers would cover his belly-button.  I used prefolds with covers for the first two months.  My reasons being, that I needed an inexpensive way to diaper him because my stash of dipes had to be really big for the frequent changes and I didn't want to invest in 2 dozen fitteds to use over such a short time.  All that I had to buy to size were the covers.

 

24 prefolds (pre-washed 6 times)

4 bummis regular covers in size Small - aplix closure

3 bummis super whisper wraps in size Small (they are a little larger) - aplix closure

3 snappis fasteners

kushies flushable liners

30 baby washcloths for wipes

 

Approximate investment $200 (NB I spent $70 in disposables in Anders first two weeks of life - so this is way less expensive) 

 

I prefer aplix (velcro) to snaps at this stage.  You can get a snugger fit.  And you don't have to worry about wear and tear of the aplix too much since the covers aren't reused and only washed if they get soiled (not all the time).

I purchased the kushies liners at either Sears or Wal-Mart.  With the frequent poops, they make cleanup easier.  But they aren't nessecary, because newborn poop easily dissolves in the washing machine and if baby is breastfed, it really isn't offensive. 

I didn't do any crazy baby wipe formulas.  Just take a cloth and wet it with warm water before changing baby.  It helps to have your changing station within proximity to a washroom.

Prefolds are the greatest.  Not only as diapers, but as an absorbant mat to change baby on, to catch and sop up an overflow of milk when your milk production is out of control, and as a burp cloth to catch and cleanup baby spitup.

 

The Details

 

I would trifold into the cover at the beginning and later do a bikini twist with a snappi.  See details on folding here.  At around two months, I added 7 fuzzi bunz to my rotation.  They were good for outings or if someone else was changing him other than mom or dad.  I also saved the fuzzi bunz for our nighttime changes, because they made for a quick and simple change while I was half asleep.  

 

Older Baby 

 

The older baby doesn't need to be changed as frequently as the the newborn.  At this point, I found pocket diapers to be the best to use.  The fleece layer keeps baby dry between changes and I could actually afford to have a small stash of pocket diapers to get through a couple of days.  12 diapers would usually get me through 2 days.  Also, they were quick and convenient to to get on and off a more active baby.